NES Profile: Early Childhood Education Subtest II (109)

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Overview

The resources below provide information about this test, including the approximate percentage of the total test score derived from each content domain. The complete set of the content domains, the test framework, is provided here and contains all of the competencies and descriptive statements that define the content of the test.

Select from the links below to view:

the test competencies associated with the content domain,
a set of descriptive statements that further explain each competency,
a sample test question aligned to each competency.

Table outlining test structure. Column one contains the structural headings and column two are the structural details.
Test Field	Early Childhood Education Subtest 2 (109)
Test Format	Multiple-choice questions
Number of Questions	Approximately 80
Test Duration	135 minutes 15 minutes for tutorial and nondisclosure agreement 120 minutes testing time
Reference Materials	None required

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table outlining test content and subject weighting by test question format and competencies
Key	Approximate Percentage of Test Score	Content Domain	Range of Competencies
Domain 1	57%	Learning Across the Curriculum—Assessment Practices, Language and Literacy	0001 to 0004
Domain 2	43%	Learning Across the Curriculum—Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, Physical Education, and the Arts	0005 to 0007

Content Domain I: Learning Across the Curriculum—Assessment Practices, Language and Literacy

Competencies 0001–0004

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0001 Understand how to use developmentally appropriate, authentic, and culturally responsive assessments and assessment strategies to support all children's development and learning.

Descriptive Statements:

Demonstrate knowledge of characteristics, uses, and strengths and limitations of formal and informal screening and assessment tools and strategies (e.g., teacher observation, portfolios, peer assessment, parent/guardian interviews, checklists, check for understanding, rubrics, screening tools, standardized tests).
Apply knowledge of how to interpret formal and informal assessment results and use a variety of assessment data, including anecdotal records and children's work samples, to identify strengths and needs, plan and differentiate instruction, monitor young children's progress toward developmental milestones and learning benchmarks, and document outcomes.
Apply knowledge of methods and procedures for gathering relevant assessment data, including progress monitoring, from multiple sources in order to make educational decisions about children and for maintaining records of children's development, behavior, and progress in ways that safeguard confidentiality and privacy.
Demonstrate knowledge of the legal and ethical issues related to assessment (e.g., developmentally appropriate and ethical practices, use of assessment accommodations for diverse learners).
Demonstrate knowledge of developmentally appropriate assessment practices for promoting children's engagement in reflection, self-assessment, and goal setting.
Demonstrate knowledge of the role of families as active participants in the assessment process of young children, and identify effective ways to involve families and other team members, as appropriate, in assessing children's development, strengths, and needs.
Demonstrate knowledge of practices for interpreting assessment results and for using such results to plan and modify instruction and to make educational decisions about young children.
Apply knowledge of effective techniques for involving families, school-based professionals, and service providers in screening, assessment, application, and referral processes to meet young children's needs.
Apply knowledge of effective techniques for engaging with, interpreting assessment results for, and communicating results to families, school-based professionals, and service providers.
Demonstrate knowledge of the components and processes of the Response to Intervention (RtI)/Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework and methods of data-based problem solving and decision making, including Universal Design for Learning.

Sample Item:

A teacher plans to develop an informal assessment to measure a student's attainment of a unit objective. Which of the following actions would be the best initial step in the process of developing an assessment?

identifying the most appropriate day and time to administer the assessment
deciding upon the assessment format and types of questions to include
reviewing the learning standard to which the assessment should be aligned
determining whether a commercial assessment could be obtained for this purpose

Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)

C. When designing an assessment to measure student learning or acquisition of a skill, it is best to first review the standards to which the assessment should be aligned. By reviewing the standards first, the teacher can ensure that the assessment addresses the specific grade-level skills the student should gain mastery of.

0002 Understand language development in children and how to provide learning experiences and instruction that encourage all children's development of language and emergent literacy skills.

Descriptive Statements:

Demonstrate knowledge of characteristics and learning progressions of children's oral language acquisition and development and indicators that a child may be experiencing difficulties or demonstrating exceptional abilities in language development.
Apply knowledge of developmentally appropriate strategies for promoting children's expressive and receptive vocabulary, listening skills, and oral expression in varied contexts (e.g., interacting with peers and adults, exploring environments, questioning) and for creating a language-rich environment that encourages all children to learn to communicate effectively.
Demonstrate knowledge of the relationship between listening, speaking, reading, and writing and of strategies for building on the receptive and expressive language of all children (including English speakers; English learners; and children who use verbal, nonverbal, and alternative means of communication) to lay the foundation for formal reading and writing instruction.
Demonstrate knowledge of the influence of a home language other than English on oral language development, the benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism, and strategies for using English learners' linguistic and cultural knowledge to promote their language skills.
Demonstrate knowledge of early literacy development; factors that affect the development of emergent reading skills, including early indicators of dyslexia or dysgraphia; and indicators that a child may be experiencing difficulties or demonstrating exceptional abilities in reading.
Apply knowledge of the role of phonological and phonemic awareness in early reading development, methods of assessing children's phonological and phonemic awareness, and strategies for fostering the development of phonological and phonemic awareness.
Demonstrate knowledge of concepts about print, ways to assess children's understanding of concepts about print, and strategies and resources for promoting understanding in this area.
Demonstrate knowledge of the alphabetic principle and its significance for reading, ways to assess children's understanding of the alphabetic principle, and strategies for promoting skills and understanding in this area.

Sample Item:

A first-grade teacher says, "Let's play a word game. I'm going to say a word you know, but I'm going to say the word in two parts. I want you to tell me what the word is. I'll do the first one to show you. If I say gl and then -ad, you should say glad." This activity would be most effective in promoting students' development of which of the following emergent literacy skills?

free morphemes
onset/rime
spelling
syllabication

Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)

B. By separating the word into gl and -ad, the teacher is isolating the onset and rime of the word glad. Asking students to participate in this type of emergent literacy activity will directly support their development of onset/rime recognition.

0003 Understand early reading processes and concepts, and strategies for developing all children's reading and reading comprehension skills.

Descriptive Statements:

Demonstrate knowledge of phonics and its role in decoding written language, ways to assess children's phonics skills, and strategies for promoting the development of phonics skills.
Demonstrate knowledge of word identification strategies other than phonics (e.g., syllabication, morphology, context clues), ways to assess children's use of word identification strategies, and strategies for promoting word identification skills.
Demonstrate knowledge of the role of sight words in reading, ways to assess children's mastery of common irregular sight words, and strategies for promoting sight-word recognition.
Demonstrate knowledge of the role of fluency in reading comprehension, ways to assess children's reading fluency, and strategies for promoting reading fluency.
Demonstrate knowledge of the role of vocabulary development in reading, ways to assess children's vocabulary development, and strategies for promoting vocabulary development.
Demonstrate knowledge of various reading comprehension strategies (e.g., previewing, self-monitoring, self-correcting, rereading), factors that affect reading comprehension, ways to assess children's use of reading comprehension strategies, and strategies and resources for promoting skills in this area.
Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for promoting children's ability to locate, organize, and use information from various sources for purposes such as answering questions, solving problems, communicating ideas, and making logical connections.
Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for promoting children's literary response and analysis and for motivating children to read independently.

Sample Item:

A kindergarten teacher has explicitly taught the letter-sound correspondences for d, m, n, t, s, and r and regular short vowels /a/ and /o/. The students are practicing word families -at, -an, -ot, and -on. The teacher reviews various decodable texts for students to practice during peer reading. The text in one book reads:

Dad sat on the red mat. The tan rat sat on the red mat. The mat got hot, and Dad was mad at the rat.

Prior to the students' independent reading of the text, which of the following skills should be explicitly taught?

grade-level sight words
the short vowel /e/
primary color words
the color tan

Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)

A. The decodable text contains multiple grade-level sight words (the, on, and, was) that would need to be explicitly taught to students prior to independent reading to promote their ability to successfully read the decodable text.

0004 Understand early processes of written expression, and strategies for developing all children's writing competence from pre-writing through proficiency.

Descriptive Statements:

Demonstrate knowledge of the developmental stages and learning progressions of children's writing development; factors that influence the development of pre-writing and writing skills; and indicators that a child may be experiencing difficulties or demonstrating exceptional abilities in language development.
Apply knowledge of strategies and resources for promoting children's development and application of skills for communicating through writing (e.g., writing in various formats and for various purposes, applying conventions of writing, using effective writing processes).
Demonstrate knowledge of strategies for integrating writing instruction with the other language arts and across other content areas.
Demonstrate knowledge of spelling development and its relationship to reading, stages of spelling development, ways to evaluate children's spelling development, and strategies and resources for promoting spelling skills.
Demonstrate knowledge of how having a home language other than English may influence writing development and how to use children's linguistic and cultural backgrounds to promote writing competence.

Sample Item:

A second-grade student who is an English learner (EL) draws a picture of a story the teacher read to the class. The picture includes the main characters, an event that occurs, and various buildings in the city setting. The student includes labels on the picture, some in English and some in the student's home language. Which of the following actions by the teacher would most effectively encourage the student's continued oral vocabulary development?

asking the student to share favorite parts of the story and describe characters and events they recall
writing a separate list of the words in English and having the student copy them onto the picture
asking why the student used two different languages to label the things in the picture
having all of the students in the class label objects in their drawing of the story to share

Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)

A. Engaging in a meaningful conversation about textual elements with the student will expand their oral vocabulary development while providing them with an opportunity to make connections to the text and promote their reading comprehension skills.

Content Domain I: Learning Across the Curriculum—Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, Physical Education, and the Arts

Competencies 0005–0007

0005 Understand early mathematical concepts, processes, and skills and how to facilitate all children's mathematical learning.

Descriptive Statements:

Demonstrate knowledge of basic concepts, processes, and skills related to the various areas of mathematics (i.e., number and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, data analysis, and probability).
Identify characteristics of and processes in children's mathematical development and indicators that a child may be experiencing difficulties or demonstrating exceptional abilities in mathematics.
Demonstrate knowledge of methods, strategies, and activities for fostering the development of early numeracy skills (e.g., ordering, sorting, classifying, sequencing, recognizing and creating patterns, spatial sense); promoting the use of mathematical language; and promoting positive mathematical dispositions in infants, toddlers, and young children.
Demonstrate knowledge of developmentally appropriate learning experiences and resources, including technology, for promoting children's understanding of basic concepts and acquisition of mathematical skills, knowledge, and vocabulary.
Apply knowledge of approaches for determining children's current mathematical knowledge, identifying their individual needs, and providing instruction that follows a logical progression, builds on previous learning, challenges children appropriately, and is well integrated across grades and developmental levels.
Apply knowledge of ways to build on children's interests to help them use mathematics to make sense of their world.
Apply knowledge of the Standards of Mathematical Practice to promote effective behaviors and skills leading to understanding of mathematical concepts.
Apply knowledge of approaches for integrating mathematical content with other areas of the curriculum and with everyday activities for infants, toddlers, and young children.

Sample Item:

A prekindergarten teacher includes a variety of materials to support emergent skills in mathematics in each of the learning centers. For example, there are numbered blocks and stacking cups in the construction center, counting books in the literacy center, shape and number stamps in the art center, and measuring cups at the water table. This teacher's practice is likely to be most effective for which of the following purposes?

developing children's use of precise mathematical vocabulary
encouraging children to share their mathematical thinking with peers
building children's understanding of numeracy concepts through play
reinforcing children's understanding of early addition skills

Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)

C. The teacher has purposefully selected and incorporated different materials that support the acquisition of the concepts of numeracy into learning centers. Since learning centers are also designed to encourage self-directed learning, the students can experiment and play with various numeracy materials while developing their understanding of numeracy concepts.

0006 Understand social studies, science, technology, and engineering concepts and skills and how to facilitate all children's learning in these areas.

Descriptive Statements:

Demonstrate knowledge of basic concepts of culture, geography, U.S. and world history, economics, and civics for children and the relationships between the areas of social studies.
Demonstrate knowledge of processes, skills, technologies, and resources used in exploring and understanding social studies content and phenomena.
Demonstrate knowledge of developmentally appropriate learning experiences and resources for promoting children's understanding of basic social studies concepts and acquisition of social studies skills, knowledge, and vocabulary.
Apply knowledge of approaches for integrating social studies content with other areas of the early childhood curriculum and with everyday activities.
Demonstrate knowledge of human diversity and of strategies for promoting self-awareness and children's understanding of, appreciation of, and respect for all people, including oneself.
Demonstrate knowledge of basic concepts of the life sciences, physical sciences, and Earth and space sciences for children.
Demonstrate knowledge of basic concepts of technology and engineering and developmentally appropriate learning experiences for promoting children's understanding of basic concepts and processes of technology and engineering knowledge, vocabulary, and skills.
Demonstrate knowledge of processes, skills, technologies, and resources used in exploring and understanding science content and phenomena.
Demonstrate knowledge of developmentally appropriate learning experiences and resources for promoting children's understanding of basic science concepts and acquisition of science skills, knowledge, and vocabulary.
Apply knowledge of approaches for integrating social studies, science, technology, and engineering content with other areas of the curriculum and with everyday activities for infants, toddlers, and young children.

Sample Item:

A third-grade teacher is preparing a pre-teaching activity to introduce a science unit about sound. Which of the following activities is most effective in building students' background knowledge related to the topic of sound?

having students read biographies of scientists who studied sound
helping students visualize sound waves by using digital applications
watching a video about recent developments in sound-recording technology
playing the game "Guess That Sound" with the class during recess

Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)

B. Pre-teaching activities are intended to build students' background knowledge on a specific topic. The best way to introduce a science unit about sound would be to help students visualize sound waves using digital applications. This approach would allow students to visually and tangibly experiment with sound waves to better understand what they are and how they are produced.

0007 Understand how to facilitate and promote all children's learning about health, physical education, and the fine arts.

Descriptive Statements:

Demonstrate knowledge of basic principles and practices of personal, interpersonal, and community health and safety relevant to young children.
Demonstrate knowledge of developmentally appropriate practices and methods for developing the fine-motor, gross-motor, and sensory skills of infants, toddlers, and young children.
Apply knowledge of health and safety principles in the learning environment, as well as strategies and procedures for promoting children's understanding and application of health and safety principles.
Demonstrate knowledge of various types of age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate motor skills and physical activities; indicators that a child may be experiencing difficulties in motor skills development; and skills, techniques, and safety practices for engaging children in a variety of physical activities.
Apply knowledge of how to plan activities for children, including integrating health and safety principles and physical activities with other areas of the curriculum and with everyday activities; strategies for modifying activities to address individual needs; and strategies for promoting children's enjoyment of movement and physical activities.
Demonstrate knowledge of the foundations, tools, technologies, and materials of music and approaches for creating developmentally meaningful music experiences.
Demonstrate knowledge of the foundations, tools, technologies, and materials of drama, creative movement, and dance and approaches for creating developmentally meaningful drama, creative movement, and dance experiences.
Demonstrate knowledge of the foundations, tools, technologies, and materials of the visual arts and approaches for creating developmentally meaningful art experiences.
Apply knowledge of connections between the arts and developmentally appropriate approaches for integrating the arts with other areas of the curriculum and with everyday activities for infants, toddlers, and young children to promote development and learning across domains.

Sample Item:

A kindergarten teacher observes that several students have difficulty with the concept of personal space when working in groups, standing in line, or transitioning from one area to another. Which of the following actions would best promote kindergarten students' development of spatial awareness as it relates to perceptual-motor skills?

encouraging parents/guardians to have students engage in exercises before or after school
modeling for students how to determine their personal bubble and how to be aware of others' personal bubbles
providing clear expectations that describe students' responsibilities for working individually and in small groups
using painter's tape to outline on the floor where each student should stand and the traffic pattern for moving around the room

Correct Response and Explanation (Show Correct ResponseHide Correct Response)

B. Kindergarten students respond positively to direct modeling of a skill or concept because of their developmental age and needs. By explicitly modeling what a personal bubble is, how to determine one's own personal bubble, and how to be aware of others' personal bubbles, the teacher will help kindergarten students develop stronger spatial awareness skills as it relates to perceptual-motor skills.

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